NEGOTIATIONS are continuing between two companies locked in a contract dispute, with the parties hoping logs will once again be shipped from a Terrace log sort yard.
YaoRun Wood began leasing the old Skeena Cellulose property earlier this year to sort logs for export but has been prevented from doing so when contractor Bryco Enterprises blockaded access with heavy equipment, saying it had not been paid.
Speaking yesterday, YaoRun representative Charlie Shi said the dispute was about Bryco using more machinery than YaoRun felt was necessary to do the job.
“When he gave us his invoices, we just found that the hours his machines worked are too long,” he said, noting that the price per machine ended up being four and a half times charged elsewhere.
He wants to settle the dispute as soon as possible so that logging of YaoRun timber sales can continue, to re-establish a relationship with Bryco and to show others it can do business in the area.
He says he feels his Chinese-owned company has been discriminated against despite setting up shop in the area.
“Our company has hired so many local people and provides many jobs,” Shi said, noting that the company has paid taxes at both the provincial and federal level.
Alan Webber, YaoRun's logging operation manager and long-term Terrace forestry professional, says the whole situation has gone too far and he hopes the log yard will be running at full capacity very soon with Bryco as YaoRun's contractor at the yard.
“It's better to work with one guy for the long term than a bunch of different guys in the short term,” said Webber, who was hired by YaoRun to act as a broker between the Chinese-owned company and the province and help them with Canadian business practices.
“It's a learning situation on both sides,” he said, noting the language barrier has presented challenges for YaoRun, and the situation highlights a need for companies to work within the bounds of their contracts.